Digital sensors improve capabilities for night-vision devices

By Dan Lafontaine, RDECOM Public AffairsJanuary 15, 2015

Digital sensors improve capabilities for night-vision devices
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Digital sensors improve capabilities for night-vision devices
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FORT BELVOIR, Va. (Jan. 15, 2015) -- Night-vision devices are critical for ensuring Soldiers' tactical advantage through increased survivability, maneuverability and lethality.

In a search for improvements, U.S. Army scientists and engineers have developed technologies that will significantly change how Soldiers use the devices, officials said. Advancements now allow the digital sensor to be placed away from a Soldier's eye, and users can now view video images on a decoupled display.

Dan Hosek, a general engineer with the U.S. Army Research, Development and Engineering Command, has led the low-light level sensor program, known as LLLS, since 2011.

"The current image intensifier sits right in front of the Soldier's eye, and it can't be moved. If the Soldier sees something interesting, there is no way to capture one of those images and send it anywhere," Hosek said. "With this sensor, you can put it wherever you need. You can put it on the outside of a vehicle and pipe the video inside.

"The person viewing it doesn't have to be exposed. It also allows the option to separately save pictures and send them to other people because it's digital."

These solutions will improve Soldiers' situational awareness, which is vital during missions under low-light conditions, Hosek said. He leads the project within the Night Vision and Electronic Sensors Directorate at RDECOM's Communications-Electronics Research, Development and Engineering Center.

The display has been separated from the sensor, which provides a better image for the user.

"With an image intensifier, there is a maximum gain," he said. "With a sensor like this, you can independently crank up the brightness of the display. You may be limited because there's not much light, but it won't be because your display is dim. The image is brighter so you can see more."

In addition to the new capabilities, the emerging digital devices have demonstrated better low-light performance compared with traditional image-intensifier tubes, Hosek said.

The team is now working with program managers from each of the services during the technology transition phase.

Project Manager Apache completed fielding of the 1st Battalion, 82nd Combat Aviation Brigade's Apache helicopters with the new devices in 2014. The sensor is removed from the pilot's line of sight, Hosek said.

A critical step in the sensors' technology development and maturation was an improved manufacturing process. The team turned to the Army's Manufacturing Technology Program, known as ManTech, for assistance.

The CERDEC NVESD team knew it had a promising technology, but without orders for the sensors, a vendor would be unable to invest the time and money to establish and refine a manufacturing process.

"There were a lot of manual steps processing the actual sensor to get it from components to a system level," Hosek said. "The project helped move away from some of those steps and go more automated, which lowers the cost.

"At the same time, there was component optimization and performance optimization. It performed much better at the end of the program than at the beginning."

A significant portion of the ManTech funding was dedicated to actually making the sensors, he said. As the technicians and engineers at the manufacturing facility gained more experience with the new process, improvements could be made.

Without a vendor capable and willing to manufacture the sensor, the project would be stalled.

"We had a roadmap laid out. We started making more and more sensors and testing them," Hosek said. "We tested them here at our lab to corroborate what they measured at the contractor facility. We verified that that they were making progress toward our metric goals, which is exactly what happened."

By making more sensors and automating production steps, the LLLS program will reduce unit costs by greater than 75 percent as well as decrease life cycle costs, he said. These improvements are expected to lead to more widespread implementation of the technology.

Naval Air Systems Command has been another significant partner. The project has been a joint effort, and each service's expertise was critical to accomplishing the finished product, Hosek said.

For its contributions, the LLLS team was recognized as a 2014 Defense Manufacturing Technology Achievement Award recipient.

"We are happy that PM Apache adopted the technology and went full force with it. We see a lot of good things on the horizon," Hosek said.

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The Communications-Electronics Research, Development and Engineering Center is part of the U.S. Army Research, Development and Engineering Command, which has the mission to develop technology and engineering solutions for America's Soldiers.

RDECOM is a major subordinate command of the U.S. Army Materiel Command. AMC is the Army's premier provider of materiel readiness--technology, acquisition support, materiel development, logistics power projection and sustainment--to the total force, across the spectrum of joint military operations. If a Soldier shoots it, drives it, flies it, wears it, eats it or communicates with it, AMC provides it.

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